Modern Literary Criticism

Course Main Objective

To make students acquainted with approaches of Western criticism and its terms, theories, intellectual background and how Arabic criticism influenced by them and by the ancient criticism theories, its most prominent figures and their contributions and how to make use of the modern theories of criticism and discuss them through founding an open Islamic critical approach observing integration between form and content in literary work.

Course Learning Outcomes

• 1. Knowledge and Comprehension
•    1.1 Determine the western criticism approaches and its theories and intellectual references and its most prominent figures, relation of effect and influence among the ancient and modern approaches and the intellectual differences among each other.
• 2. Skills 
  
•    2.1 Find out the weaknesses and strengths in the text, integration of form and content and the established ideas in ancient criticism and the prevailing ideas in modern criticism. 
•    2.2 Use communication and information technology and learning resources and communicate orally and in writing effectively in preparing the modern criticism issues-related assignments.
• 3. Values 
•   3.1 Assume individual, collective and leading responsibility and respect personal relationships in any critical work entrusted therewith. 
•   3.2 Observe the scientific and academic integrity upon taking exams and performing assignments achieving traits of the responsible citizen.

Course Content

1. Relation of criticism with the other disciplines.
2. The religious, moral, social and cultural function through which literature rises in the country as well as its aesthetic and artistic function.
3. Characteristics of the innovator’s style in expression and thinking. 
4. The innovator’s psychological, social and cultural dimensions; different literary genres and characteristics of each genre and overlapping with each other.
5. Method to taste and analyze aesthetics of literary texts.
6. Characteristics of literature and its artistic features which make it a highly aesthetic valuable discourse.
7. Some examples of literary texts to analyze their artistic and intellectual elements.
8. How to employ principles of meaningful criticism to grow spirit of dialogue and discussion and ability to deduce rules and present them persuasively and objectively.
9. The most prominent approaches of western criticism and its schools and different literary theories.
10. The intellectual and philosophical backgrounds upon which such approaches are based.
11. The ancient Arabic criticism’s effect on some aspects of the modern literary criticism. 
12. The most prominent figures of criticism in the modern age and their contributions.
13. Methods of the modern Arab critics in making use of the western criticism and their ability to benefit from it and apply its procedures to studying the Arabic literature.
14. Levels of the western criticism’s effect on the modern Arabic criticism and its advantages and disadvantages. 
15. Discussing the immoderate literary and critical approaches which transgress or underestimate values of the religion.
16. Classicism- romanticism- symbolism- existentialism 
17. Parnassianism- serialism. Characteristics of studying the form and content of a text.
18. Poetic experiment- unity- imagination- the music of poetry.
19. The most important terms of modern criticism and each one’s meaning
20. Poetics
21. The artistic language
22. Literature and popular heritage
23. Critical stops
24. Strengths and weaknesses in text through considering its form and content.  

Textbook (s) 

- Helal, Muhammad. Gh. Modern Literary Criticism. Dar Nahdit Misr, Cairo, 12th ed., 2014.

Course ID: ARAB 407